Category: * Michelle Thoughts

* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps

Jamaica: Second Hand (Part Two)

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A journal collage from Peace Corps materials by Michelle

Here we are with less than a month left to before departure! This past week we have been happily inundated with Peace Corps e-mails about our flights, staging in Atlanta, initial safety training, pre-service training schedule, and phone meetings with our program officers. We will officially be flying to staging on March 12 then heading to Jamaica early March 14. As many of you know, our journey toward this upcoming departure to Jamaica in March has been a long one and since I (Michelle) have not had “official employment” for several months, I’ve had lots of time to browse current PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) blogs. I thought I would take this space to share some of my favorites for those of you interested in what our lives might look like these next couple years. Keep in mind that the one piece of advice we’ve heard more than anything is that each volunteer’s community, project, and experience is completely unique:

PC Volunteers ’06/’07

Tight pants– Curious what we’re supposed to bring to Jamaica? Advice from former volunteers about packing.

Continue reading “Jamaica: Second Hand (Part Two)” →

* Michelle Thoughts

Home is wherever I’m with you

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In honor of a commercial-free, no-shopping Valentine’s Day, this photo is a self portrait we took on our first ever road trip together. At that point, although we had known each other less than three months, we had already committed to get married some day but just didn’t have the ring yet. We have now been married for three and a half years!

I used the quote “Home is wherever I’m with you” from the song by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros because it seems to characterize our marriage. I don’t know how many different places we’ve lived and visited in the short time we’ve been together so far- probably over a hundred. And today, as I look toward our two years abroad with Peace Corps and the endless possibilities of where we may be in the future, this phrase rings even more true. Even though we may be thousands of miles away from anything or anyone else familiar to us, I will never leave home as long as Jedd is there with me. He truly is my home.

* Michelle Thoughts, Videos

Video Killed the Radio Star

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I’ll be honest, the above video has nothing to do with the rest of this post other than to introduce the concept of Videos. (It’s just a fun plug for an a capella group with a unique remix style who won the show, The Sing Off. Singing “Video Killed the Radio Star.”)

I got the idea to add a Video category to our sidebar (see right side of screen when you’re on our homepage) from some Peace Corps volunteers in Ecuador. And for fun I thought I’d include some of my favorite videos that we’ve shared with you on this blog so far, for nostalgia’s sake: Continue reading “Video Killed the Radio Star” →

* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps

Jamaica: Second Hand

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We get a lot of questions from friends, family, and even strangers about our upcoming Peace Corps experience in Jamaica that all center around similar topics. There’s obviously a lot we still don’t know yet, but I’d like to share some Q&A about what we think we know so far, based on second-hand experience (blogs, Peace Corps materials, etc.). So please do keep in mind that I’m summarizing based on preliminary “research” and giving my best guess here, just to give everyone else an idea of what to expect. Continue reading “Jamaica: Second Hand” →

* Michelle Thoughts

Intentional Change

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we must be the change we wish to see in the world, gandhi

This image was actually a design I used in my job last year when we made student service day t-shirts. When I had my “farewell party” of sorts, my former staff and students all wore the shirts and covered up a key letter with tape to make it say “be the Chang,” which was very endearing. Anyway…

This is another quote for my Quotes & Images series that means a lot to me. It emphasizes how we cannot be just hopers, wishers, and dreamers, but we must also act. And it’s not about getting other people to change, it’s about starting with ourselves; demonstrating what’s possible in hopes that others will catch on. Because if we are not willing to make the sacrifices for a better tomorrow ourselves, how can we ask someone else to do it? Continue reading “Intentional Change” →

* Michelle Thoughts

Intentional Habits

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Part 2 of my Quotes & Images series

watch your habits they become characterI heard this quote at an early age and it really stuck with me. There is a lot in this world that we do not have control over and, for that reason, I might finish this quote differently rather than what is said about “destiny.” On the other hand, the one thing we do have control of is our own actions and, therefore, our habits. The kind of person we become is our own choice. We have the power to decide if we will put more good and positive things into the world or more hurtful and negative things out into the world. We choose if we are going to be someone who Continue reading “Intentional Habits” →

* Michelle Thoughts

Intentional Choices

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If it is important to you, you will find a way. If it's not, you will find an excuse.

I’ve always loved quotes and recently started collecting them on my pinterest board. I thought it would be kind of fun to create my own images to go with them, so this might be a new “mini blog series” for the next couple weeks. I’ll share briefly what the quote means to me or how it relates to the mission of our blog: simply intentional.

I think the above quote is extremely true. Oftentimes we say something is important to us, but the true test is whether we actually put our time, energy, money, and effort into it. When what we say- or even believe- is important to us, does not line up with  our actions, we are sadly deceiving ourselves and not fully living the life we intended. So here’s a question for all of us to consider then: What am I putting my time, energy, money, and effort into? Take a second to think about what exactly you spent your waking hours on yesterday, what purchases took up a lot of your budget this past month, what has been occupying the majority of your thoughts. Sometimes my answers start to sound like things I’d be ashamed to call important: watching TV shows online, buying food that just gets wasted or that degrades my health, thinking bitterly about other peoples’ behaviors. If these are the opposite of what’s important to me, it’s time to try being more intentional with my time, energy, money, and effort, like spending more quality time face-to-face with people I care about, buying only what I need, bettering my health, and reflecting on how I can continue to improve my own character.

Other related quotes:

We excuse our sloth under the pretext of difficulty.  ~Marcus Fabius Quintilian

There is no such thing as a list of reasons.  There is either one sufficient reason or a list of excuses.  ~Robert Brault

For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do–this I keep on doing.  ~Romans 7:19

* Michelle Thoughts

Lessons for Living

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Ever since watching Forks Over Knives (which Jedd blogged about here) I found a great blog by the “Healthy Librarian” called Happy Healthy Long Life. She’s another great resource for “simply intentional” because she reviews and writes about medical research behind lifestyle choices, like eating vegan. Super informative! Anyway, I really enjoyed one of her non-food-related posts recently, which was based on the Cornell Legacy Project. The Legacy Project is based on collecting practical advice for living from America’s elders. As I am still honing my New Year’s resolutions now that we’re a week into the New Year, reviewing advice from wise folks seemed like a good idea. Here is the Legacy Project video, and below are some of my favorite tips:

Lessons for a Happy Marriage

1.  Marry someone a lot like you.  Similarity in core values is the key to a happy marriage. And forget about changing someone after marriage. (My own side note: They don’t have to share your personality though!) Continue reading “Lessons for Living” →

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, * Michelle Thoughts, Videos

Looking Back at 2011: Our Year In Review

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Here’s our official New Year’s update video, looking back on 2011. Although we expected to be heading out to Peace Corps in July, we found out in late spring that our placement changed and we were put on hold until the news of our new assignment arrived in August. Despite this “set-back,” we went ahead with our plans to resign from our full-time positions, travel the country, and visit family and friends. We never dreamed of all the places that our waiting period would take us; and even though the Peace Corps journey is postponed until March 2012, our adventures have already begun!

Related posts:
Ten States in Two Months
Away We Go! Our National Parks Road Trip Itinerary
Simply Intentional – 2010 Year In Review

* Michelle Thoughts

Courage, Connection, Authenticity

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This post was inspired/stolen from one of our favorite authors, Donald Miller, who recently blogged about it here. I think you’ll like the video!

We’ve always been fans of TED Talks, not to mention sociology and psychology, and this talk seemed to fit especially well with the Christmas season because it’s about connection to others. When I saw it on Donald Miller’s blog, I decided to watch it because I know I have my own struggles with vulnerability and connection. Continue reading “Courage, Connection, Authenticity” →